Meg Jacobs writes for Salon on how Mitt Romney has no chance of enacting the sweeping agenda of the far right.

Victory will bring Romney no end of troubles. The expectations of his fired-up supporters will be sky-high, and Republicans in Washington will be even less willing to compromise on their “bold” (i.e., radical) ideas. But President Romney would face real obstacles from Day One — just like every Republican president since Ronald Reagan. The sizable budget deficit will compel action even as it limits the president’s running room. The same congressional gridlock that has bogged down President Obama will confront Romney, only this time with the Democrats as the obstructionists.

Those are structural and political barriers. Romney will face a fundamental policy challenge, too: The government programs that he and running mate Paul Ryan most want to overhaul, Medicare and Social Security, are immensely popular with the American people.

I personally believe another factor will drive the right nuts: Romney is only conservative during an election. He is simply not one of them. While the far right who currently control the party will only accept exactly what they want, Romney will govern as he always has: as a non-ideological pragmatist. That in and of itself will drive them up a wall. Couple that with the fact that he is not a “true believer,” and this is a recipe for disappointment for conservatives.

One Response to President Romney Will Disappoint the Right

I’m not sure I agree with this or not. Because Romney takes every possible position known to political man, and because his career in the public sector has been so short, no one can know with any certainty how he would govern if, heaven forbid, he ends up in the Oval Office. I go back and forth on what is actually worse: a raging ideologue or an absolutely shameless, crass opportunist.